jerrytz
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 10, 2012
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20 Keys To Leadership Wisdom
There are thousands of leadership articles, books, and courses being produced every year. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent in College degrees, MBAs, and Leadership training, and still, most business leaders struggle when it comes to making things happen.
The problem is that while everybody seems to know everything about exceptional leadership, only a bunch of wise guys fully understand what it takes to getting the right things done.
Unfortunately, leadership wisdom cannot be imparted in a classroom or taught in a book.
What is Leadership Wisdom?
Leadership wisdom is the ability to understand how people, events, and situations affect your position and vice versa, combined with the courage to apply the right actions in order to deliver the correct outcome.
Wisdom is the result of a simple two variable equation: Wisdom = Knowledge + Action. (W = K + A)
The Knowing-Doing gap.
The knowing-doing gap is the biggest challenge the corporate world faces these days. All corporate issues are rooted in the knowing-doing gap, from strategy execution failure, down to employee disengagement.
The knowing-doing gap is the leadership inability to turn knowledge into actions. In other words, it is the leadership incapacity to do what they know that needs to be done. A clear lack of wisdom!
20 Keys To Become A Wise Leader
Wisdom is one of the four cardinal virtues, and as such, it must be built from within.
The following list summarizes 20 Useful Tips To Become a Wise Leader, grouped by fours, under 5 Essential Leadership Behaviors.
# 1 Be courageous
1. Challenge status quo.
2. Stand up for what is right.
3. Put your moneys where your mouth is.
4. Reward honesty.
Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing has happened. - Winston Churchill
# 2 Build mutual trust
5. Encourage people to think and speak freely.
6. Allow people to make mistakes.
7. Trust your employee´s ability to self-judge and resolve critical issues.
8. Reward creativity.
A boss creates fear, a leader confidence. A boss fixes blame, a leader corrects mistakes. A boss knows all, a leader asks questions. A boss makes work drudgery, a leader makes it interesting. A boss is interested in himself or herself, a leader is interested in the group. – Russell H. Ewing
# 3 Avoid destructive internal competition
9. Define a simple, easy to articulate vision.
10. Abolish infighting and destructive competition.
11. Define common goals and joint objectives across key functions.
12. Reward collaboration.
A leader certainly needs a clear vision of the organization and where it is going, but a vision is of little value unless it is shared in a way so as to generate enthusiasm and commitment. Leadership and communication are inseparable. – Claude Taylor
# 4 Focus on what truly matters
13. Stop patching up recurrent defects, focus on tackling root causes.
14. Avoid unproductive meetings.
15. Do not bite off more than you can chew.
16. Reward prioritization.
Most of what we say and do is not essential. If you can eliminate it, you'll have more time, and more tranquillity. Ask yourself at every moment, 'Is this necessary? - Marcus Aurelius
# 5 Promote people who understand the value of people
17. Avoid promoting selfish super-achievers.
18. Invest in people management training and leadership coaching.
19. Build reliable two-way communication channels.
20. Connect management bonuses to talent development and retention.
No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it. - Andrew Carnegie
Conclusion:
You can spend hours leadership articles, spend thousands of dollars in leadership training, and indulge yourself in leadership discussions day in and day out, but remember:
Action without knowledge can be fatal. Knowledge without action is always sterile.
If you are not going to turn knowledge into action, what is the point in learning?
You did not spend at least a quarter of your life, and thousands of dollars in education, just to become another grey sheeplike executive, did you?
I hope you enjoyed the reading. If so, please do not forget to click on "Like" and share it with others who may find it useful too.
I will love it if you take a minute to comment on this article. That´s the best encouragement to continue to write and share knowledge.
There are thousands of leadership articles, books, and courses being produced every year. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent in College degrees, MBAs, and Leadership training, and still, most business leaders struggle when it comes to making things happen.
The problem is that while everybody seems to know everything about exceptional leadership, only a bunch of wise guys fully understand what it takes to getting the right things done.
Unfortunately, leadership wisdom cannot be imparted in a classroom or taught in a book.
What is Leadership Wisdom?
Leadership wisdom is the ability to understand how people, events, and situations affect your position and vice versa, combined with the courage to apply the right actions in order to deliver the correct outcome.
Wisdom is the result of a simple two variable equation: Wisdom = Knowledge + Action. (W = K + A)
The Knowing-Doing gap.
The knowing-doing gap is the biggest challenge the corporate world faces these days. All corporate issues are rooted in the knowing-doing gap, from strategy execution failure, down to employee disengagement.
The knowing-doing gap is the leadership inability to turn knowledge into actions. In other words, it is the leadership incapacity to do what they know that needs to be done. A clear lack of wisdom!
20 Keys To Become A Wise Leader
Wisdom is one of the four cardinal virtues, and as such, it must be built from within.
The following list summarizes 20 Useful Tips To Become a Wise Leader, grouped by fours, under 5 Essential Leadership Behaviors.
# 1 Be courageous
1. Challenge status quo.
2. Stand up for what is right.
3. Put your moneys where your mouth is.
4. Reward honesty.
Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing has happened. - Winston Churchill
# 2 Build mutual trust
5. Encourage people to think and speak freely.
6. Allow people to make mistakes.
7. Trust your employee´s ability to self-judge and resolve critical issues.
8. Reward creativity.
A boss creates fear, a leader confidence. A boss fixes blame, a leader corrects mistakes. A boss knows all, a leader asks questions. A boss makes work drudgery, a leader makes it interesting. A boss is interested in himself or herself, a leader is interested in the group. – Russell H. Ewing
# 3 Avoid destructive internal competition
9. Define a simple, easy to articulate vision.
10. Abolish infighting and destructive competition.
11. Define common goals and joint objectives across key functions.
12. Reward collaboration.
A leader certainly needs a clear vision of the organization and where it is going, but a vision is of little value unless it is shared in a way so as to generate enthusiasm and commitment. Leadership and communication are inseparable. – Claude Taylor
# 4 Focus on what truly matters
13. Stop patching up recurrent defects, focus on tackling root causes.
14. Avoid unproductive meetings.
15. Do not bite off more than you can chew.
16. Reward prioritization.
Most of what we say and do is not essential. If you can eliminate it, you'll have more time, and more tranquillity. Ask yourself at every moment, 'Is this necessary? - Marcus Aurelius
# 5 Promote people who understand the value of people
17. Avoid promoting selfish super-achievers.
18. Invest in people management training and leadership coaching.
19. Build reliable two-way communication channels.
20. Connect management bonuses to talent development and retention.
No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it. - Andrew Carnegie
Conclusion:
You can spend hours leadership articles, spend thousands of dollars in leadership training, and indulge yourself in leadership discussions day in and day out, but remember:
Action without knowledge can be fatal. Knowledge without action is always sterile.
If you are not going to turn knowledge into action, what is the point in learning?
You did not spend at least a quarter of your life, and thousands of dollars in education, just to become another grey sheeplike executive, did you?
I hope you enjoyed the reading. If so, please do not forget to click on "Like" and share it with others who may find it useful too.
I will love it if you take a minute to comment on this article. That´s the best encouragement to continue to write and share knowledge.
